{"id":637,"date":"2026-04-02T15:10:27","date_gmt":"2026-04-02T15:10:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tcup-hub.org\/?p=637"},"modified":"2026-04-15T22:57:27","modified_gmt":"2026-04-15T22:57:27","slug":"making-america-ai-ready","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tcup-hub.org\/?p=637","title":{"rendered":"Making America \u201cAI-ready\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A new NSF funding opportunity will support development of AI \u201cCoordination Hubs\u201d in every state and territory. <\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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Image generated using DALL-E 3, with the prompt: “Draw an icon, white background, of a human brain made out of printed circuit board.\u201d JPxG, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

By Paul Boyer<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

As part of its full-throttled promotion of artificial intelligence, the National Science Foundation has announced a new funding opportunity to support development of AI-ready Coordination Hubs in every state and territory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The NSF TechAccess: AI-Ready America<\/a> (NSF AI-Ready America) initiative \u201caims to expand access to AI knowledge, tools, training and capacity building so all Americans can participate in \u2014 and benefit from \u2014 the AI economy,\u201d according to a statement released by the NSF.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Working in partnership with the Department of Agriculture National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA), the Department of Labor, and the Small Business Administration, the NSF expects to make 56 awards, with each Hub receiving $1 million per year for three years. The total anticipated expenditure will be $168 million – $224 million.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to the NSF solicitation<\/a>, the Coordination Hubs will expand AI literacy and encourage its \u201creal-world adoption.\u201d The NSF said the project is needed to \u201cclose the gap between the nation’s AI capabilities and the workforce, businesses, and communities that need to use them.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The AI-ready program is part of President Trump\u2019s prioritization<\/a> of artificial intelligence and quantum information science. Reflecting language used In his AI Action Plan<\/a>, the NSF and its partner agencies framed the project as one front in the nation\u2019s battle for military and economic superiority.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWinning the AI race is vital to ensuring continued American dominance in defense, innovation, and economic strength,\u201d said Small Business Administration Administrator Kelly Loeffler.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In addition to the Coordination Hubs, the agencies will also support a \u201cNational Lead\u201d and \u201cAI-Ready Catalyst Award Competitions.\u201d More information about these funding opportunities will be released later.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Responses to the Coordination Hubs funding opportunity are due by\u00a0Tuesday, June 23, 5 p.m. EDT<\/strong>. You may also visit the\u00a0Tech Access: AI-Ready America webpage<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Paul Boyer is editor of the Hub website and serves as a senior consultant for the NSF-TCUP Hub project.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A new NSF funding opportunity will support development of AI \u201cCoordination Hubs\u201d in every state and territory. An informational webinar will be held April 14.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":638,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_FSMCFIC_featured_image_caption":"","_FSMCFIC_featured_image_nocaption":"","_FSMCFIC_featured_image_hide":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-637","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-activities"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/tcup-hub.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/26DE46AD-C64E-4521-BB58-192ABBB9AAB7.png","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tcup-hub.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/637","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tcup-hub.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tcup-hub.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tcup-hub.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tcup-hub.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=637"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/tcup-hub.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/637\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":664,"href":"https:\/\/tcup-hub.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/637\/revisions\/664"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tcup-hub.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/638"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tcup-hub.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=637"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tcup-hub.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=637"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tcup-hub.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=637"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}